The Waterfront
by caniscanemedit-bully
Summary: Ebony was a simple Bosmer residing in the Imperial City Waterfront. Her daily life was pretty normal for a commoner - until night. The seemingly innocent Wood Elf lived between two identities - normality and thievery. These identities were soon threatened by a certain blue-eyed Watch Captain...
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I did post this on WattPad, but decided to improve and continue it on here, if you so happened to come across it on WattPad. I feel like our favourite Watch Captain Hieronymus Lex has very few fics on here, so I thought I'd contribute to that :3 If you have any ideas or corrections do let me know. This fic won't be updated on a regular basis, but I promise I'll update whenever I can. I'm pretty sure I will complete this fic one day so don't think when I disappear for a few months that means this fic has been abandoned.**

…

It was midnight.

The guard were on duty 24/7, but some could be a little more 'lenient' throughout the night due to their sleep deprivation.

A mysterious shadow darted swiftly from rooftop to rooftop.

It was the thief Bosmer, Ebony.

She wasn't really well-known, as was considered a 'lesser citizen' throughout Cyrodiil, especially the Imperial City. Her hair was reasonably dark for a Bosmer (as her name suggests), being near enough black. She was fair-skinned, maybe not as pale as a Nord, but still quite pale. You could almost consider her appearance as being like that of a human, besides her eyes and ears. Her eyes were orange/golden, typical of many Bosmer, and her ears were as pointy as any other elf. She always wore something that was similar to that of the Dark Brotherhood's shrouded armour, but she'd never actually associated with assassins. No one really noticed, or cared, because very few knew what the members of the Dark Brotherhood actually wore.

Her general self was that of a fun-loving person with considerable strength. She hadn't a care in the world, doing whatever she pleased. Herself and the local Thieves Guild members always had a laugh and a good time, and she especially got along with Methredhel, a Bosmer like herself. They lived in the Waterfront, amongst other Thieves Guild members and beggars. Of course, the residents all got along reasonably well, due to being of the same class, and the fact that the thieves supported the beggars and they returned that favour by being almost spies for the guild.

Anyway, she was shifted along the shop buildings in the Market District, trying to pick out a good shop to raid. She, unlike her thieving peers, was a great acrobat. She jumped and climbed atop buildings with ease, giving her a great vantage point. When Armand needed information about something within the Imperial City, he usually asked her to do the job due to the fact that she was the best acrobat out of most he'd seen in the city.

She spotted the First Edition.

She had asked the beggars about decent shops to raid in the city, and many had mentioned the fact that the First Edition was ramping up their game, and so had ordered a massive stock of valuable books, and even a few spell scrolls, that had just arrived earlier that day.

There was one problem with this.

Armand had given her a few guard schedules, most notably the one of Hieronymus Lex, the guard captain. Usually, whenever a store had brought in valuable stock, he patrolled the zone around that store at night, aware that thieves could easily break in and steal everything.

Lex really took on his job, arresting people whenever he could. But out of pretty much every type of criminal, he despised thieves the most, as was always out to catch the Thieves Guild leader, the Grey Fox.

Many didn't believe the man, thought he was crazy. With a little sneaky eavesdropping to see if she could catch some important information regarding the guild, much of what she'd previously heard from the guards showed that many thought he was off his head.

Of course, Ebony had to disagree. How he'd found out about the Grey Fox's existence was something she should keep an ear out for, though.

Speaking of the insufferable man, there he was, walking in his typical proud stance. He always looked serious, and was clearly easily irritated. This was something you didn't have to be a thief to instantly recognise. He was but metres from the bookstore, patrolling in an area that he could keep an eye on it.

Ebony contemplated ideas on how she would get inside the bookstore unnoticed.

"Ah ha!" she exclaimed in her thoughts.

Besides her typical stealthy skills, she also had some ability in magic, most notably illusion, but she knew that an illusion spell directly on Lex would attract unwanted attention. She was also a decent conjurer, often using her favoured Flame Atronach spell and conjuring the Daedra a good distance away from drive attention away from her.

She balled her hand into a tight fist, and sent the summoning spell in the general area of the more sheltered stores. Lex was instantly distracted, and she used this opportunity to jump down and sneak into the store.

She checked to see that Lex was swinging his steel claymore at the Daedra, and he'd hardly got a single slice in the creature. She hopped down from the roof, landing crouched on the ground.

She searched into her small satchel, pulling out a lockpick. She admitted to herself that she wasn't great at lockpicking, and struggled to fumble the lock open. She usually did waste a fair few picks on moderate locks, no matter how much Methredhel or Armand tried to teach her.

Finally the lock came loose after breaking just two lockpicks. She entered the store and closed the door completely, knowing that if it was left open it would be a massive giveaway.

"Woah," she exclaimed in her thoughts. Glistening, brand new books lined the shelves everywhere, practically begging to be stolen. Being quite the nerd before she started thievery, she often read many books, and had a decent knowledge on what books would deem more valuable than others.

She noticed a collection of _The Real Barenziah_ series, and even a copy of _The Lusty Argonian Maid_ stashed amongst the shelves. Of course, she wouldn't bother with these books, as they provided little coin and only weighed her down, making jumping and sneaking much more difficult.

She then saw the chest in the corner.

Pulling out another lockpick, she managed to just about unlock it, with a mere five lockpicks to spare. Inside the chest, lay five different spell scrolls. Unfortunately, she didn't know which were valuable and which weren't since she had never really used scrolls (the only ones she had used being ones that helped her break through locks). She collected them all anyway, knowing that scrolls generally had a decent value and the fact they were light, so carrying them wouldn't be that much of a problem.

She threw them in the small rucksack that sat on her back. She scanned the room, checking for any other possible valuables. Besides a few books that may gain her about ten Septims, she knew that staying here for much longer would be risky and a waste of time.

And she was right.


	2. Chapter 2

_Damn it_ , she thought. _She must have left remains of her broken lockpicks right on the doorstep._

Before even checking to see who was coming through the door, she darted up the stairs, hiding just outside the door that presumably lead to the store owner's private quarters.

She took a peek out of the smallest, most unnoticeable gap she could find between the wall and the stairs. She had her hunches about who had entered the store, and she was right.

Captain Lex was stood right there, stern blue eyes scanning the room. He didn't need to say a word and already it seemed as if he had full authority within the room, even though it didn't belong to him at all.

She suspected that he'd stay silent, not saying a word. Considering he wasn't a thief and was wearing full heavy armour, she could give it to him that he was a decent sneak.

 _Of course_ , she thought to herself, _not as good as us thieves, not by a longshot._

This little thought made her nearly chuckle, but she held it in with all she could muster. Staying silent and escaping without being caught was her top priority right now.

It was then that Lex noticed the open, and empty, chest with more broken lockpicks dotted around it.

 _Damned thieves,_ Ebony heard him grumble under his breath. She noticed the very irritated expression on the man's face, and it amused her that she was irritating one of the Guild's worst enemies, yet the man hadn't a clue who'd done it.

She tried her best not to make a sound, but a faint murmur of a giggle escaped her lips.

Lex looked at the direction that the sound came from. He could have sworn he just heard someone _laughing_ , even if it was just a faint giggle.

His eyes quickly darted to the bottom of the stairs, intentions clear.

 _Oh no_ , she thought. _He was going to climb up the stairs._

As quick as she could, she cast an illusion spell, making her form turn completely invisible. Unfortunately, if Lex tried to attack and she had to defend herself, or if she had no choice but to use an object, then the effects of the spell would forfeit. She would have used chameleon, but Lex wasn't as stupid as the thieves liked to believe.

"I know you're there," Lex grumbled. He looked directly where she was stood.

She scrunched her whole body up in the corner, and practically begged every damned Divine out there for him not to find out where she was.

Lex didn't initially spot her invisible form, but the effects of the spell began to wear off, her body reforming back.

"Ha! Found you!" he said triumphantly, darting for her re-appearing form.

She ran as fast as she could.

Her legs trailed down the stone steps, through the bookstore. She reached the door, and fumbled hastily at the doorknob. She was shaking out of panic and only just escaped the shop before, Lex caught up. She sped through the street, towards the exit where two oblivious guards were stationed. They weren't aware that she had committed a crime - until Lex shouted at them.

"Men! Don't let them escape! They're a thief!" Lex commanded them, trying to catch up to the little fleeing Bosmer at the same time.

If there was pretty much any other crime, Lex would usually allow his guards to tend to it, sometimes getting involved if he was requested or felt the need to. If it was a thief, he would instantly get involved no matter how insignificant the thievery was. Every thief he assumed had relations to the Grey Fox.

Unfortunately for her, if she were to be caught it would most likely be by Lex, whom was a significantly faster runner than either of the two guards. She ran as fast as she could, oblivious to where she was heading to.

Weye.

Lex could so easily corner her here, since the bridge was long, narrow and above Lake Rumare.

One of the two guards stationed outside of the entrance immediately saw the small figure being pursued by Lex and new exactly what to do. He called some nearby guards, a total of five appearing.

She had no way of defending herself.

She hadn't the coin to pay off any form of bounty, and she wasn't going to sit rotting in jail for the next few months, being constantly questioned by Lex about the Grey Fox.

Lex was but a few metres from her, she was confused, panicking, no idea what she could do.

Staring at the waters below, an idea sprung to mind.

She knew she'd have to make a scene out of this one.

Although it was dark and no one would ever be able to see her face, her golden eyes practically glimmered, almost like that of a vampire's. The only difference being that a vampire's eyes were usually filled with blind bloodlust, whilst hers were etched with pure determination.

These very same eyes met the irritated gaze of Lex, who was a tiny fraction of the bridge away from her now.

Just as Lex was about to pounce Ebony, her body rotated through the air and she had performed a perfect backflip, landing into the cool waters of the Lake Rumare.

 **A/N: Okay I understand this chapter is short (not even 1000 words), but I do plan on making most of my chapters longer than this. Plus, shorter chapters usually mean a swifter update. Enjoy :3**


	3. Chapter 3

Ebony knew that her light armour versus the guards' heavy armour would prove to be a massive advantage in the dark waters of Rumare. The guards stared out in the pitch black lake, trying to spot the mysterious thief. Not a single one dared to take of their armour and swim out into the lake. They did wear a basic set of clothes under their armour, of course, but the idea of plunging into a freezing cold lake filled with Rumare Slaughterfish sent shivers down their spines.

She swam freely in the lake, deeming herself safer her in these murky waters than back up with the angry guards on the bridge.

"Captain, what do we do? Even if we did dive into the lake, none of us would ever be able to find her or catch up to her!" one of the guards exclaimed to Lex. Her brazen attitude lead her to sneak right under the very bridge she'd just jumped from, hoping to detect some interesting conversation – especially conversation regarding the Guild.

"I think we should just let this thief... whomever they may be... go. I mean, we haven't a chance in the world to catch them! I'm not risking my life for some petty thief," another guard exclaimed. Ebony heard the faint murmurs of agreement from some other guards, and presumed they were nodding.

"I cannot believe how much you are all slacking!" she heard the stern voice of Lex. "This thief clearly has no respect for the law, and should be taken care of... by any means!"

The very same outspoken guard spoke again. "Well, if you care so much, go and catch them yourself! Most of our shifts will change soon, I refuse to stay up all night to catch some pathetic thief!"

"Get back to work and finish your shift, _now_ ," Lex practically shouted at the guards.

Ebony just about heard distance murmurs of annoyance from the guards. The murmurs grew fainter, and then she realised that all of the guards had gone.

All except one.

To her complete disbelief, Lex had actually gone and dived into the water to search for her.

 _He must really detest thieves with a passion_ , she thought.

This would be easy enough for her. It would be hours until daylight, providing her with plenty of time to maybe have some fun. Of course, it was a little risky, but she was a thief after all. She stayed under the bridge, hidden amongst the shadows, her hood stayed up. She secretly praised herself for this oddly enchanted rucksack, which somehow made it waterproof. Of course, she didn't buy it, such an item would be way too expensive for an average thief living on the Waterfront, instead having stolen it from some hydrophilic adventurer who clearly wasn't careful enough with his belongings.

What surprised her was his ability at swimming. She thought he'd be almost as useless as the rest of the guards, but he was clearly much faster.

 _He's always just a tiny step behind me_ , she almost snorted aloud at the concept.

"I know you're here," Lex called out to nowhere in particular - stern and suspicious as usual.

Before he was about to turn in her direction, she dived under water, trying to conceal herself. He instantly swam towards the small ripple in the Lake where she'd just disappeared, diving in the same place she just did.

Being someone who'd loved nature, whether it was sitting in trees, admiring plants, etc. it made her a good swimmer and not even slightly fearful of murky depths. She loved water, of course it being a significant part of nature. She loved its clarity, the fact that she could practically glide through it due to years of practice and her naturally agile, Bosmer frame. These years of experience also helped her learn how to control her breathing more effectively, thus extending the duration in which she could stay underwater.

She dived deeper and deeper, sure that Lex wouldn't find her. She was safe.

Well, so she thought she was.

Her impulsive actions had made it so she didn't think about that fact that there could be Slaughterfish biting at her ankles at any second.

"Ah!" she gasped, all the breath she'd contained being released. A Slaughterfish was attempting to bite her leg. She really panicked now. She'd either get bitten to pieces by a hoard of angry Slaughterfish or drown.

The calm, silent, gliding figure that she was previously had now turned into a desperate, panicking, and most notably noisy, mess. Lex pursuing her was at the back of her mind now, her focus now on the fact that she could so easily die right here.

She swam with all her strength towards the surface. More Slaughterfish had gathered at her feet, dragging her down. Although being small and light assisted a lot in sneaking and the like, it didn't really help in this situation. She was dying for just a single breath of oxygen.

Meanwhile, Lex had heard the strange sounds of mumbling from underwater, and swam down to see if it was just a bunch of noisy fish or the thief he was looking for.

Ebony's eyes had somewhat adjusted to the dark water. She searched for anything - a secret entrance, maybe an abandoned object that she could cling on to. Her only weapons were her dagger and bow, in which were out of the question as she had to try and swim up before she drowned.

Something grabbed her arm.

Ebony's vision was beginning to darken. The sharp, quick-thinking Bosmer that she usually was just wasn't showing herself right now, just a pathetic little elf waiting for the Void to cast her from Nirn.

But somehow, out of all of the unlikely possibilities, she was coughing and spluttering at the surface of the water, legs wounded. Fortunately, it would be too dark for Lex to see, so she still had a chance of going unnoticed when (or if) she returned back to her home in the Waterfront.

When her vision adjusted to the darkness of the skies instead of the water, she instantly noticed one thing.

Hieronymus Lex was right in front of her.

"I knew I'd catch you, thief!" his hand tightly clasped around her arm. She tugged weakly at his grip, and attempted the knee him through the water. Instead she cried out in pain as her bleeding knee made contact with Lex's leg.

She tugged away even harder, but he was a human guard, and she was merely a skinny little Wood Elf thief.

One of the Slaughterfish had swam up near the water's surface. The helpless Bosmer had an idea. She scrunched her legs up, reducing their visibility to the Slaughterfish, and as planned, the creature swam up to Lex and had begun to bite his legs. She was free.

Ebony swam as fast as her injured legs could take her, towards the shoreline.

As she escaped the waters, she instantly collapsed on the damp sands. A Mudcrab was pursing her, and she knew Lex would very soon. She ran past Weye, continuing into the forests. She could barely move, her bad leg dragging her down, bleeding quite heavily. She heard the distant unsheathing of a sword behind her. She had to try to ignore the intense pain he leg was in, knowing that Lex could very well take her down with a single swipe.

The agile Bosmer ascended up a tree as quick as she could, thanking the Gods that her race and frame helped quicken this.

"Damn it!" she heard Lex mumble furiously to himself, just metres from her safety tree. The sun peaked over the horizon now, the stars and dark night sky beginning to fade. She had won, for now, as Lex stalked off angrily back towards the Imperial City.


	4. Chapter 4

"So, what happened to you last night then?" Methredhel questioned Ebony. The two Bosmer thieves were in their underwear, having a late afternoon bathe in the lake. Fortunately, Ebony had made it back to the Waterfront before collapsing near Methredhel's door last night.

Ebony's head swivelled around to make sure none of the guards were nearby. She noticed the typical two standing by the gate, and Hieronymus Lex - of course. He always patrolled around the Waterfront, knowing that if he wanted to catch a thief, his chances were best in the Waterfront. Thankfully, he was out of ear-shot.

Ebony's voice lowered a touch, just in case.

"Well, I decided to go and loot the First Edition - you know, the bookstore that had brought in a new order of expensive books and scrolls."

"Ebony, you should have told me you were planning on raiding a fully stocked store! You know Armand gets annoyed when you do that," Methredhel scolded. Okay, so Ebony wasn't exactly a fully-fledged Guild member. While she was associated with the Guild, She didn't really do jobs on a regular basis and never did any special jobs. She was similar to the beggars, in a sense that they assisted the Guild but weren't direct members or anything like that.

"You know that I'm not a full member like you or Armand, so it doesn't matter."

"Urgh! Fine, whatever... just tell me what happened."

Ebony told the story about her attempt at robbing the First Edition. She had nearly done it, but foolishly left broken lockpicks littered around the door. Of course, Lex spotted the signs and immediately went in to investigate. She narrowly avoided being caught at that moment, and headed past the Waterfront, around the city and to the bridge. She did quite the performance before diving off the bridge.

"Woah! Way to tell the Watch where to get off!" the Bosmer laughed. "So typical of you to be like that, Ebony."

Ebony couldn't help but feel prideful of Methredhel's almost awe at her miniature acrobatic performance at the bridge. Ebony was aware that she loved making the most of irritating the Watch, definitely more than she did.

She continued. She spoke about Lex following her, the Slaughterfish biting at her ankles in the lake, herself nearly drowning to become the food of some stupid little fish.

"And then what?" Methredhel was sat up, only half of her body in the water now, intently listening to Ebony's story.

"Well... Lex did technically save me..." Ebony looked irritated that she didn't tactfully rescue herself. Instead, some stupid overzealous twit desperate to catch a thief had dragged her out instead.

Methredhel's jaw dropped.

"It wasn't a typical knight-in-shining-armour-saving-a-damsel-in-distress situation. You know that! He'd set his mind out to catch a bloody thief!" Ebony was annoyed that her Bosmer best friend would ever associate herself and Lex in such a way.

"I'm just joking with ya, Ebony!" Methredhel grinned, eyes shining with humour. "Come on! Continue!"

"You're the one that keeps interrupting me!" Ebony giggled, splashing her Bosmer friend with water.

Methredhel splashed back with more force. "You want a water-fight, eh?"

"You know that the guards will arrest us if they catch us half-naked in the lake! It is technically illegal... a water-fight would only catch attention!" Ebony warned, but Methredhel ignored her, collecting as much water as she could in her cupped hands and pouring it on Ebony's face.

"Rude!" Ebony laughed, shoving a wave of water at Methredhel.

"Methredhel! Stop! Some of the guards are looking our way!" she hissed, dunking the Bosmer's head underwater.

Both of the elves were underwater. Methredhel had a clear look of irritation and a little bit of shock on her face. Ebony gestured for her to keep her mouth shut and for her to stay down.

They heard muffled giggles from above the water, before a female Breton and a female dark elf had dived into the lake - also in their underwear. Methredhel and Ebony swam back up to the surface, and the four females had begun to have a massive water-fight in the lake - regardless of the fact that practically the whole Waterfront was watching.

"Guys quick duck!" Methredhel laughed, pointing to three guards standing angrily at the edge of the lake. This, to no surprise of any of the four women, included Hieronymus Lex.

"You do realise, law-breakers, that these waters are not for swimming naked in!" one of the guards (not Lex) shouted. They all laughed, causing them to have to swim back up to the lake's surface for air.

The other unnamed guard spoke, directed to the other guards. "We aren't going in there after them, are we?"

"Of course not. It's sunset," Lex gestured to the sun very slowly making its way to the horizon. "It'll be too cold to stay in the water overnight without clothes on."

"Guys," Methredhel whispered to the other three women, after overhearing Lex's statement. "We have to sneak out of here somehow. Lex has a point, we'll freeze to death if we stay out here for long."

The women simply nodded.

Almost an hour had passed. The guards still stood, waiting for at least one of the women to swim out of the lake. The sun had almost completely set, and the women had begun to shiver in the darkening water. Soon, they would not be able to see into the water, meaning they wouldn't know a way out until morning or they would be bitten to death by a Slaughterfish. Even though, Slaughterfish were not very common in the more shallow waters that they were currently in.

"Screw this, I'm tired of waiting. I'm cold," the Breton groaned, before swimming to the shores of the water to be instantly arrested by one of the guards.

"Well that was a stupid thing for her to do," the Dark Elf spoke. "She didn't even attempt to sneak out."

That's when the Dark Elf dived under the water and attempted to swim to the left of the guards to try and escape behind Ebony's shack, but one of the guards saw the ripples in the water, followed them and arrested her as she approached the shoreline.

Now it was just Ebony and Methredhel left.

"What do we do?" Ebony whispered.

"I have an idea. We should dive under the water, and swim to the other side of the Waterfront, by the Bloated Float. See you in the morning, if you don't get arrested," she winked, before plunging herself into the water. Ebony followed at a small distance behind.

After a short while swimming, Methredhel had made it to the other side of the Waterfront and had climbed at the back of the Bloated Float. Thankfully, the innkeeper was not a fussy man and would probably even let Methredhel hide for a bit until morning, as he was especially kind to those who lived on the Waterfront.

Ebony was on her own. Just as Methredhel had escaped into the Bloated Float, she had heard Lex commanding all the Waterfront guards to be on the lookout for herself and Methredhel.

The guards had quickly stationed themselves all over the Waterfront.

Ebony considered her options. She could swim to the shore, similar to what she had done last time, but no doubt she would be caught by a Slaughterfish again and killed. She could swim to the shore of the city's island, or to the west bridge.

The water was growing increasingly cold, and she felt her body begin to go sore and numb.

Ebony had made her decision. She swam towards the island's shore, a decent distance away from the Waterfront. The cold was now biting painfully at her skin, and she felt like she was going to black out.

As she was nearing the shore, she heard quick footsteps from her left. She pushed herself as fast as possible through the water. She was going to black out.

Her skin graced the sands of the shore, and her eyes fluttered shut.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Wow, I haven't updated this fic in a long time. I had actually already had this chapter written but never uploaded it. This is a short one, but I'll try and keep updating again soon. I said I wasn't abandoning this fic entirely, and I'm not. Sometimes, I just lose some interest in writing fics, but this interest has returned, and I miss writing about Lex and Ebony. Feel free to give suggestions, and don't lose hope in this fic if I disappear for long periods of time.**

"Ebony get up quick, Lex is searching for you!"

Ebony's eyes snapped open.

"What's going on?" Ebony sat up, her vision blurring for a second before adjusting to see Methredhel's face. It was night, not a single cloud hiding the beauty of the night sky.

"No time to explain, put these on," Methredhel threw some clothes at Ebony, which prompted Ebony to notice that Methredhel was now fully dressed. She put them on as quick as possible, and mentally thanked whatever Gods that the clothes were dark so the fact that they were wet would go unnoticed.

"Thanks," Ebony nodded. Methredhel directed her further up the island, to a raised area in which they could view the Waterfront.

"Lex had commanded his guards to patrol the entire Waterfront. After they'd realised that you were no longer there, his guards went to search elsewhere, and they were headed just to where you'd washed up. I had noticed you swimming past when I looked out of the window of the Bloated Float," Methredhel explained.

"So, how am I going to get back home?" Ebony raised an eyebrow.

"Well, since most of the guards have now moved elsewhere, we should be able to safely return home."

"But they will be able to recognise us, wont they?"

"That is a small possibility, but we hardly displayed our faces, plus they recognised us by the fact that we were in our underwear, and not our faces."

"I think they'll be somewhat suspicious if two wood elves mysteriously popped out of elsewhere in the city in the middle of the night."

"I thought of that," Methredhel winked, before handing Ebony a bottle of ale. "When I arrived in the Bloated Float, I explained what had happened to the barkeep, Ormil, and he told me this plan - and leant me some clothes."

"So what do we do with these?" Ebony gestured the ale.

"Simple, pretend to be returning from an inn from the main part of the city drunk," Methredhel hopped down on to the bridge that lead back to the Waterfront.

"What in the name of Oblivion...?" a guard raised an eyebrow as Methredhel and Ebony walked past, pretending to take swigs from their bottles of ale and practically falling all over the place.

"Hello there pretty doggy," Ebony 'drunkenly' blurted to Methredhel, gesturing to her like she was encouraging an actual dog.

"Woof *hic* woof," Methredhel wiggled her bottom, pretending to have a tail.

Another guard spoke. "You two ladies better get back home before you get yourselves in trouble."

Slowly, an awkwardly, the two Bosmer practically waddled back to the shacks on the Waterfront - thankfully undetected for the entire time.

As they arrived, they were greeted by a few giggles from a few residents that were still awake and outside. Of course, they knew that Ebony and Methredhel always got up to all sorts of mischief, and this was no exception.

Both Bosmer parted, entered each other's homes and quickly fell fast asleep. Today had been a long, and eventful, day.


	6. Chapter 6

_Another night of thieving_ , Ebony grinned.

After the episode on the Waterfront with Methredhel, she had slept well into the afternoon that day, meaning she was wide awake and prepared for another thieving mission.

Ebony threw her hood over her head, concealing her face, and climbed the walls of the Imperial City. She took advantage of the slightly eroded parts of the wall, by using them as handles to climb her way to the top with relative ease. It was dangerous, yes, but she had been doing it for years, and knew just about every nook and cranny of these walls.

None of the stores had recently brought in some particularly interesting orders, so breaking into a store would feel like striding right in with a bag full of Septims. Of course, that would be the outcome of her visit.

She scanned the area, noting where the guards were stationed. They were stationed around the entrances, as usual, with a few patrolling the streets. Lex was also there, of course. He often liked to keep an eye on the Market District, because he knew that it would be popular for thieves at night. The fact that there'd been a recent break-in gave him all the more reason to be patrolling this part of the city at that time. For all he knew, his chance at catching a member of the Thieves Guild could be that night.

The petite Wood Elf kept her body as low and undetectable as possible. Her legs still felt a little sore after the escapade with the Slaughterfish, being numbed by freezing cold lake water earlier.

Ebony waited for the particular street that she was preying on to become clear, and then silently leaped from one building to another, swiftly. She was atop the First Edition again, but she did not intend on going in there... well, not for some time at least.

She noted the stores in front of her, and made her decision.

 _Jensine's_ , she thought. This would be her first stop.

To her luck, Lex had just walked by, so the coast was clear for a short period of time. She silently leaped from the building, landing soundlessly on the stone street. As much as it had hurt her leg, she had no choice but to ignore it.

Her dark figure became one with the shadows. Whenever there was a particularly darkened area where she could hide in, she took full advantage of it.

 _Lockpicking time… great_. she thought to herself, slightly rolling her eyes and letting out a somewhat internal sigh. She kept in mind not to leave the remains of broken lockpicks outside. She didn't exactly want Lex rescuing her from the depths of a Slaughterfish-infested lake again.

The lock was relatively difficult, but Ebony just about managed to crack with just one broken pick as a result.

Inside the shop were standard, pretty invaluable wares. She ghosted across the room, finding herself behind the counter.

Inside the counter was a small box - clearly some kind of jewellery or trinket one. The lock appeared to be pretty simple, though.

She thought that it may be too good to be true, but perhaps there wasn't as many valuables in there as she'd previously thought. Regardless, she took out a lockpick and snapped it open in mere seconds.

Gold.

This was something she really did not expect from a box with such a simple lock. There was about 500 Septims just… there, practically begging to be taken. She pocketed them all, of course, preparing the share a good amount of that coin with some of the beggars, Armand and Methredhel.

She rotated her body as quietly as possible.

 _Shit._

There was a wraith floating right in front of her. She should have known that the lock was too easy for that amount of gold.

To the poorest of luck, the wraith was wielding an elven sword.

Ebony ran. She knew this was dangerous. The wraith was pursuing her, narrowly missing her as she dodged its attacks.

Lex came to mind as she was about to leave the store. She pushed her thoughts aside, running for her life. She'd rather get pursued by something that would most likely not kill her instead of a demonic wraith.

Ebony rushed out of the door, swinging it closed, although she knew that the wraith could glide straight through the entrance anyway.

Her legs were at the speed of lightning, even faster when she had been pursued by the guards previously. She fixed her hood quickly while running, so no guards would acknowledge her face.

The wraith shot some kind of ice spell at her, causing her to move much slower. While she was temporarily slowed, the dangerous creature caught up, swinging its sword at her. It scratched her face, leaving quite a deep cut across her cheek and nose.

"Arghh!" she stumbled, hands clasping the heavily-bleeding wound. The blood ran through her fingertips and down her hand.

 _Great,_ she thought. _I'm being chased by a ghost and I'm covered in blood._

She turned the corner, so close to reaching the doors that would allow her to escape the market.

She only realised how focussed she was on escaping the wraith when she collided with something.

 _Or rather, someone._

Their collision caused them both to topple on the ground, Ebony being directly on top of whoever-it-was.

"S… sorry," she versed instinctively, only half-aware that she'd actually said it.

Ebony's eyes adjusted. _Lex_. Just her luck.

"You!" he shouted angrily. Ebony leaped off from the heavy-armoured Imperial below her, blood dramatically soaring in the air. Her hand was practically coated in it now.

Lex had got up quickly too, grabbing her hard by the arm. "You're coming with me, _citizen_ ," his tongue laced in venom at the word 'citizen', like she was unworthy of even being referred to as that.

That was when the wraith floated around the corner, swinging its sword violently at Ebony.

She screamed. Closed her eyes. Cowered. Waited for death.

She heard the clashing of blades above her head. The cries of the wraith.

Her eye peaked through blood-coated fingers.

Lex was swinging a sword skilfully at the wraith, the spectral creature making horrifying sounds of the likes she wished to never hear again. Lex lunged forward, causing the creature to let out a terrific screech, before collapsing into a pile of ash and dust on stone.

Within this time, Ebony had managed to escape, encumbered by a powerful frost spell cast by the wraith. Her only advantage was the shadows now.

The Bosmer crouched on the bridge connecting the market district and the prison. _What luck_ , she thought miserably.

She was moving even slower, worried that the frost would cause her to slip and injure herself.

Meanwhile, Lex had noticed the absence of the little thief, and immediately knew where to look.

He had come to realise that she had a habit of escaping out on to bridges, and headed for the closest bridge - the one connecting the market district and the prison. _How interesting_ , he mused internally.

Back on the bridge, Ebony was stealthily crouched to the side, making the most of the little shadow the short stone walls of the bridge provided. So far, she had went unnoticed, as there were no guards currently on the bridge, besides one at the entrance of the prison who was leant against the wall admiring the night sky.

Lex burst through the market district entrance, determination fuelling his every action. With a quick scan of the bridge, he instantly spotted a shadowy figure creeping about. Something unusual for a guard to spot so quickly.

He darted across the bridge, mind set on finally catching the little thief who kept narrowly escaping his grasp every time they had encountered each other. He would not let this happen again.

She jumped on the ledge quickly. Escaping Lex's grasp.

"Shit!"

Ebony had moved seemingly too quickly, finding herself slipping over the edge. Below her was a drop that would most likely cause her death, or debilitating injury at the very least. Even her acrobatic prowess would not save her this time.

Her body was a mere limp little form dangling pathetically on the edge of the bridge. Ebony attempted to move along the bridge to get to a safer part in which she could jump, but a single slight movement nearly made her lose the grip that would determine whether she lived or died.

What she wasn't aware of was what Lex was doing.

The Watch Captain had sprinted to the end of the bridge, jumped over and ran down. He was directly below her, prepared to catch that stupid thief by any means.

With one movement, she fell.

"Fuck!"

Assassin-esque handprints were left on the edge of the bridge, blood from her face. Ebony waited for her very possible death. Expecting slump on the floor below her. Expecting a searing pain. Before becoming a lifeless pile on the eroded stone path below.

What she didn't expect was to land safely and painlessly. Alive.


End file.
